


Did you Just Swipe Left On Me?

by Tonks22



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Bucky Barnes's Metal Arm, Bucky and his ragtag group of friends are perfecting the arm, M/M, Not Beta Read, We Die Like Men, dating apps, flight delay, tony is a fan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-19
Updated: 2019-10-19
Packaged: 2020-12-23 23:03:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,019
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21089273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tonks22/pseuds/Tonks22
Summary: Based onthis post.Bucky is at the airport but his flight gets delayed by three hours. When he swipes left on a profile, he hears the guy next to him say, "Ouch, hard no for that one?"





	Did you Just Swipe Left On Me?

Bucky had been at the airport, past checkpoint and waiting for his flight for two hours already. He’d requested the shuttle too early. But he’d rather wait inside than brave the rain that was more slush than anything (or was it snow that was more water?). Well, at least he was dry here, and they would be able to board soon. 

Well, they would have if his flight had not been delayed; Bucky honestly didn’t care why. All that mattered was that the estimated wait time was three hours. He knew he would have to download more games if he wanted to keep himself entertained

Or he could ignore the little voice in his head that sounded like Steve, and open up The App, the uppercase letters were Steve’s not Bucky’s; that may give him something (he tried to not think someONE) to do for the next hour or two. 

He’d been swiping mostly left for a while and was considering Wordscapes instead when someone sat down next to him; he tried not to show his annoyance but honestly. Did this guy not see all the other seats available that were not next to other people? Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his neighbor pulling out a phone and headphones. Bucky relaxed then, that usually meant no small talk about how awful it was they had to wait.

He went back to The App and figured he’d give it another go before he closed it. He still had at least two and a half hours to kill. So he continued to swipe mostly left. Bucky asked himself what he was doing, it had been months since he’d last logged in. Pierce had wanted commitment; Pierce had wanted them to be exclusive; Pierce had wanted Bucky available at all times for what he now recognized were booty calls. 

But what was sauce for the goose was most definitely not sauce for the gander, as was proved a week ago when Bucky caught Pierce with a hand up some woman’s shirt. He’d been planning to surprise Pierce at his office and then take him out to dinner, but his not-boyfriend seemed to already have plans. Oh and how many signs had been there before then! But that was done now.

So, he did the only sensible thing; he walked out without them being the wiser, and stopped himself from knifing some tires on his way home. That for sure earned him some brownie points, right?

He’d been glad of this trip coming up, even if it was work-related. It gave him some time away from his apartment in case Pierce showed up. He would not take kindly to being ghosted; he believed he was the last Coke of the desert. If he did show up, Steve would make sure he never did again.

What a waste that year with Pierce had been. 

A few more swipes and he came across a photo of a guy that would have been right up Bucky’s alley a few months ago. Cocky grin, brown eyes, Black Sabbath t-shirt, and the hint of tattoos on his arms. He stopped on that profile a little longer than on others but in the end, decided to swipe left on him too.

“Ouch, hard no for that one?” Bucky heard from next to him. 

Bucky took a deep breath to calm himself down before telling this asshole to mind his own business. When he turned around, however, he came face to face with the same cocky grin he had just swiped no on. 

“Fuck,” was all Bucky could say. 

The guy gave him a more genuine smile before saying, “Apparently not.” 

Of fucking course this would happen to him. No one was going to believe this. “Can we, like,” he swallowed. “Look, I don’t even know why I was looking. I’m not,” he ran his left hand through his hair. “I wasn’t gonna… I was bored.” 

The guy gave him a speculative look, “Always a good reason to, you know,” he said miming swiping with his hands. “Anyway, I’m Tony.”

“Bucky. Nice to meet you,” he extended his hand for a shake. “I’m really sorry ‘bout the swiping thing.”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s good for my ego to be turned down every once in a while.” 

“Hey! At least it was a ten that did it,” Bucky tried for confident now. He’d been told that he could charm the pants off anybody, and he wouldn’t have minded charming them off this guy. If this had been a year ago, he’d be climbing him like a tree already. 

And there was the reason he had only done hook ups before Pierce. Tony’s eyes kept flicking to his prosthetic and back to his face.

“Ya got questions, sugar?” Bucky crossed his arms over his chest and pointedly looked down at his left arm.

“Oh my god, so many.”

Huh, that was a new one. “I’m sorry, what?” 

It seemed that now that Bucky had acknowledged it, Tony felt that he could openly look at the arm. “It’s a beauty. But I didn’t think they were already in trials. Last I read, Barnes was still working on a delay.” His hands kept on flexing as if restraining himself from reaching out.

“It’s not out on trials yet. This is the prototype,” he waved his metal fingers at Tony. “We’re still working out some kinks.”

“Ok, so you are smart, hot, and have a sexy metal arm? Tell the truth, did Santa send you?” Tony paused as if bracing himself for something. “Feel free to say no,” Tony leaned in and placed his hand on Bucky’s knee. “But I was on my way to grab some coffee if you want to join me?”

Tony stood up from his seat, offering his hand to Bucky to help him up. Bucky wasn’t gonna lie, he was able to sneak a peek at Tony’s ass, and yes, he liked what he saw. 

The walk to the coffee shop closest to their gate was well spent finding out the basics about each other. Tony was from Manhattan, Bucky from Brooklyn; one preferred the Dodgers, the other the Yankees; both had travelled to Chicago for work. 

By the time they sat down with their coffee, it was like playing a game where the winner was whoever asked the weirdest question.

“No, just no, we only have two hours left. I don’t have the time to explain to you the many merits of Star Trek.”

“All I’m saying is that I’d rather fight The Fly over The Thing.”

“Be serious! There is no way robots could take over and enslave us.”

There were no pre-set expectations and that made all the difference to Bucky. Yes, he had been looking for a possible hook-up (who was he kidding, he knows he wouldn’t have gone through with it); but he was having more fun talking to Tony than he would have had if he was currently on his knees for some stranger. And didn’t that put great images in Bucky’s mind - looking up at Tony, his eyes tearing up, feeling Tony pull his hair just enough to play with the line between pain and pleasure. 

Bucky was sure his thoughts were being broadcast to Tony who had just been looking at him with a devilish smile. 

They began the walk back to their gate still talking and if their hands brushed accidentally, there was nothing they could do.

They looked around for seats and Bucky was discouraged to see that there were no two empty seats together. He was not ready to stop talking to Tony. He kept looking around when he felt Tony push his shoulder against him to get his attention. Bucky looked down at him and realized Tony was asking him to sit with him on the floor by the charging ports.

Bucky didn’t mind that at all, it gave them a reason to sit a little closer than if they were on the chairs. And if their thighs were touching as they talked, who was he to complain? This was nice, and sometimes a guy just needed nice. 

As they continue to talk, they discovered that both of them were at the same conference in Chicago. 

Tony pulled his shoulders away from Bucky. “You seriously work for Hammer? That is wasting your talents.” He sounded as if just the name Hammer caused him physical pain. 

Bucky squirmed under his gaze, which simultaneously made him feel judged and pitied. “It’s not like anyone else was hiring someone with a barely-working prosthetic.”

“But are you happy with them?” Tony asked him scooting himself closer to Bucky and leaning his head against him.

Bucky moved his arm to drape over Tony’s shoulder, causing Tony lay his head on Bucky’s chest. “I don’t know,” Bucky answered, running his fingers and down Tony’s arms absentmindedly. “It’s not like I have a choice if I want to stay in my field and with enough free time to keep working on the arm. Besides, I don’t think Hammer would provide a recommendation letter for me. And then how do I explain that I’ve held the same job for five years but don’t have references for it?”

Bucky was working himself up to an anxiety attack and that was the last thing he needed before getting on a plane. 

“Hey, hey, look at me Bucky,” Tony was saying softly. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m just a noisy fuck, and I shouldn’t have asked that.” He had put his hand on Bucky’s chest and was tapping slow beats over it with his fingers. 

After a few minutes of the tap-tap-tap-tap, Bucky had calmed down. “Where did you learn that - that thing with the tapping?” Bucky was curious to know. It had certainly worked for him. 

It was Tony’s turn to look uncomfortable at the question, like he didn’t know if he should answer. 

“You don’t have to answer, sweet thing,” Bucky used his left hand to brush a lock of hair away from Tony’s face. The gesture felt intimate and familiar, like he had done it a million times before. 

“I get them too,” Tony whispered without looking at Bucky. “It’s worked for me for as long as I can remember.”

They were quiet for a bit after that and Bucky could have sworn Tony had fallen asleep when the latter lifted up his head so fast Bucky was worried he’d hurt his neck. He pulled a card out of his wallet and wrote something on it. He took a deep breath and looked at Bucky. “Here you go,” he handed Bucky the card in his hands. “I can’t promise anything for certain but I can at least get you an interview.”

Bucky turned the card over. His eyes snapped to Tony’s face, and back to the card. 

**Tony Stark**  
R&D Director  
Stark Industries  
_212-476-6626_

“Director?” 

“Yeah, director.” 

“Ok then. Well, this blows.”

Tony was about to say something when Bucky continued, “Now I don’t know if I should ask you out before or after I’m not hired.”

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

How did you meet? How did you get to talking? Did he give you the murder stare when you sat down next to him? 

Their friends would ask questions about their meeting and every time, they would give a different answer. There was a bet between their friends to see who would guess correctly. Happy and Steve were the only ones who knew the truth by virtue of being the ones to pick them up from the airport. They were not allowed to share the details.

Tony would include the true story in his wedding speech; he tried to use it in his vows but Steve stopped him under penalty of convincing Bucky that it was bad luck to see the groom before the wedding day.

“He swiped no on me at the airport; and when he saw me next to him, he could not resist my charms.”

Bucky would shrug and say, “I had three hours to kill.”


End file.
